India beat Canada 4-1 in Thomas Cup Final opener

HORSENS (DENMARK): (Apr 24) Lakshya Sen endured a tough loss but Ayush Shetty and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered wins as 2022 champions India notched up a commanding 4-1 win over Canada in their opening Group A tie of the Thomas Cup Finals, here Friday.

After Lakshya’s spirited effort ended in a 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 loss to world No. 13 Victor Lai, world No. 4 Satwik and Chirag levelled the tie with a dominant 21-10 21-11 win over Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Kevin Lee.

The 20-year-old Ayush, runner-up at the recent Asia Championships, then outwitted world No. 33 Brian Yang 21-13, 21-17 in 39 minutes to hand India a 2-1 lead.